Dow Rally Quickens

January 15, 1987|The New York Times

NEW YORK -- Wall Street`s two-week old rally got a second wind Wednesday when technology issues led the entire market to another big gain.

The Dow Jones industrial average stood at 2,035.01, for a 22.07-point gain. It was the blue chip index`s ninth straight gain and its eight consecutive record. The Dow is now up more than 139 points since Jan. 2, the first trading day of the year, or more than 7 percent.

On Wednesday the market even got an assist from IBM, whose weakness on Tuesday created a drag on blue chip stock prices. IBM on Wednesday rose $2.12, to $118.62.

But IBM`s improvement did not compare with the gains made by other high- tech stocks. Digital Equipment rose $11.50, to $130, after reporting sharply higher quarterly profits, while Advanced Micro was up $1.87, to $18; National Semiconductor up $1.25, to $13.37; Texas Instruments $7.75, to $134; and Motorola $3.12, to $43.50.

Helping the semiconductor stocks was a report that the industry`s closely watched book-to-bill order ratio improved nearly 9 percent in December. (See Business Wire, page 3D).

Analysts say the competitiveness of the technology industry could also be helped by the falling dollar, which could help U.S companies` sales overseas.

More importantly, however, is that some experts feel a recovery in the outlook for the high-tech industry could portend better things for the nation`s economy, which has been sluggish.